 Sound of a singer-songwriter Lynn Campbell from Lifford and I'm delighted that Lynn has joined me in the studio now Lynn How's it going? Are you well? I better put up your mic. I better put up your mic. It sounds better You're keeping well anyway. I am we're just after playing that song you had it out of wild Was it Martin McColgan singing on that which or was it not Martin McColgan sang on the duet? Tell me why tell me why I was getting a mix up with that so for a listeners out there now I know a lot of around the Northwest would know you Lynn But for anyone who doesn't know you tell us a little bit about yourself I'm from Lifford Married to Mark Campbell one of the postman and I have two boys Joseph and Sean I work full-time for IFAC accountants and Rafaul and I've been there just over 21 years and I took up songwriting as a hobby And I'm just really enjoying the way things are going with it at the minute It's a fantastic hobby to have and you get to meet lots of nice people and Creating, you know music making up your own songs. That's that's really good fun And how long have you been songwriting? I started in 2013 on the spur of the month I was watching a silly program on TV where this man had admitted to having an affair live on TV I thought God he must be crazy. So I was thinking about it I was driving up to Balboffet. I had everyone on errand and I was singing in the car as you do and You was thinking about you know what what happened, you know backstage and did she leave him or what was happening? I thought, you know, that would make a good song I'm gonna try writing the song So by the time I got back from Balboffet about an hour later. I had the first verse and chorus written to please try And melody as well and I thought this is good fun. So over the next few weeks I finished the song and I thought yeah, this is a really good This is gonna be good crack. So I thought what I'll do now. I've done that and I thought I'll make up a song But maybe what happened before it and I wrote a song about that And I thought all right, but what happened after it and I did that and I went back and forward and back and forward until I realized I had a full album written It's amazing and you were telling me, you know Been speaking to you before you were telling me about then you kind of got into this songwriting circle first Not just songwriters from Ireland, but you've met up with a gentleman I had here on the show Dan Washburn Seamus Fitzsimmons over in England asked me to say hello to you. How did you come in contact with all those guys? It was it was through your radio station that all our songs were played on and they had a wee chatroom and Were the singers and you know the public would go on them. We would all talk together. You don't have a bit of a laugh and The station was playing Dan's song one night I'll have to drink about that and I thought this song was amazing So I thought I'd be very very bold and I headed into Facebook and I thought check out to see this man has a Facebook page And I went on Dan was there. I sent my wee message and messenger and I says look radio station over in Ireland Is playing your song? If you're not busy some night, you know, why don't you come over and join us and have a bit of crack in the wee chatroom? And so we did the the next week and I just had started from there. He Talked to him every few days since and that's like nearly two years ago now and Met a lot of really really nice people a lot of singers and songwriters and you know They've all been very helpful and very supportive, you know and they're like like Dan is an incredible singer-songwriter and a music producer And he has his own you know studio and Nashville and things like that She miss what someone's as you said has become a really good friend of mine Brilliant for advice an incredible singer-songwriter and there's one song in particular rainy heart and it's just it's like my favorite song ever I just want to say hello to him tonight too because he's listening in as well and hello to his mom who's up staying with him And just they've they've all been really really good to me You know like all the male and female singers and you know, they've really taken me under their wings and you know Just treated me like like one of them Regina McDermott to She's tuned in the night as well from Ballahatourine A fantastic singer as well and a songwriter now too And it's just great. It's you know, it's it's a fantastic hobby to have and it's great to you know to meet people like that And they be doing something positive and productive and it's just that's something that I hope to do for a very long time And it's funny you're saying they're tuning tonight You can actually watch us on the Highland radio Facebook page because we're streaming live as well as gone out on the air We're streaming live and shame as you were mentioning that song that Seamus wrote I believe that Vince Gill took a liking to it as well. He Vince Gill couldn't believe it when he heard it a year Yeah, Vance Gill was very very happy with it. I don't think he has recorded it yet But when somebody like Vance Gill is has taken a song on board and saying that they're liking it and they're considering recording it You know you're doing something good Yeah, and I must say was you actually didn't introduce me to Dan and a couple of months ago He was over here and he was doing a tour with Seamus and he was doing one with a lad from down the country to whose name is it again? There was Noel Boland and Tomas Jackman Tomas Jackman as well. Yeah, and Dan gave me a few of his albums and it was great. He wrote a great song or did you write it to one about it's kind of like a Thing like the most what is it that Irish women the world? Yeah, it's on. Yeah, that was that all came from being in the the we chat room It was one Sunday After the radio show and we were all taking a hand of each other We were talking about Dan coming over to Ireland to do his tour And I was saying like you have to be where they wish women like I said like we're a force to be reckoned with and so we put the fear of God in him and My head started spinning. I thought you know, there's a song in here somewhere So I text it and I says Dan I have an idea here and I says a bit cheeky. I said, but I have an idea He says run with that land so wrote down few verses a few lyrics come into my head and We set up a video call and I sent it to Dan Dan worked away in it as well And he says what about the melody and I says well there I says that the money that I don't hear one I says I hear it being it more as a spoken thing looking like Johnny Cash and a boy named Sue you like kind of that kind of style and He says right. He says this is different and I think we spent about an hour and a half on the phone One day on a zoom call, you know, writing it and finishing it, you know when Dan just he says right start you singing it there now or saying it or whatever way you want to do it And then he just started playing the guitar and came up with you know, the kind of the melody then as well You know for the chorus and it was such a fun song very very cheeky song Oh, it's not very cheeky. It's a wee bit cheeky But it was the most fun I've ever had writing a song and it's called Irish women could rule the world And it is really really good to have to say yeah I must give it a spin later on and also we're not we're gonna play your current single now No, we file and Dan actually does it you wet on it with you But I believe you had a top guitar player on the song as well Never and my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would have had somebody like Chris losing her Play guitar on the song that I had written Again that was thanks to Dan He when I told him about that I asked him about you know the song in the duet and I said would you would you sing it with me? He says yes. Yes, just right away. Yes, and We talked about the instruments that you know that I wanted on it and stuff like that He says well, I'll ask my friend Chris to you to play in it. I said that's great That saves me finding a guitar player. He said, you know Chris and I said no Because I know nobody I'm terrible me names. You know me. I know you just about Um He said Lonnie's Garth Brooks's lead guitarist for the last 30 years and I says what? So I see oh absolutely ask him now I didn't think for a second that you know the guy would say yes But he was a Nashville. They were You know doing the rehearsals for Garth's tour last September and he called on the dance studio And was the intention of playing one guitar? but Chris was was saying to me, you know later that he had that much fun. He played three So I got a wee bit of a shock then when I came back and I had all the different guitars on it And Terry McGinty from Balbuffet actually my producer as well. He actually plays some guitars on it as well, but The song turned out amazing better than what I could ever have expected and I really am I'm so so honored to have Chris and Dan play on it as well. It was just it was massive for me And then now you don't play guitar yourself. She already you just write songs, but how do you get the melodies? You know, you can I know you can write down the words, but how do you get the melodies? That's going to put it musically into there. It just comes to me at the same time as the lyrics You know, I can never say that I've written a song and didn't have the melody to go with it It comes at the same time I think it's not unusual for me to you know go to bed at night and wake up in the morning and have a full song Written and the melody in my head. I can't do one without the other It just it comes to me at the same time, but I know everybody's different, but that's just the way it works for me Yeah, it's amazing. You know like yourself who's in an independent artist Not on a major label and as it was funny was talking to Dan to him being an independent artist His like the last album He gave me like there wasn't a bad song in it and I hadn't heard of Dan before he came to Ireland But I know all his music now and I know he has his own studio and he's producing one or two people out in Nashville as well But it's amazing. But do you know what's been great, especially since the pandemic I suppose that the like, you know, Facebook and social network and that all you music writers can get together and Oh, it has been You know COVID was an instill as in a lot of cases horrible Yeah, but if it wasn't for COVID, I wouldn't be where I am now It was only during COVID that you know, I thought with all the horrible stuff was going on. I thought new life is too short Songwriting was something that I enjoyed and I thought, you know I'm just gonna send send my songs out to a couple of radio stations and see how I get on So it was during COVID that I had sent it over to a friend of mine who had her own radio station in Scotland And I hadn't even told her that I was a songwriter and I knew her for like a year and a half So she got the shock of her life when I sent her over the songs one Thursday night and she, her name is Mary Kitt and She sent the songs on then to another station in Carlow and Carlow sent it on to another station and Before I knew it was in a couple of months, you know I was being played in radio stations all over the world But if COVID hadn't have happened, I wouldn't have had the time to start, you know to concentrate on music again But it's you know, I'm very very thankful for for what I've achieved and you know, how far I've come You know in the last two years And now that you know my boys are grown up. I do have that we bit of extra time You know to concentrate on the music and you know doing something that I love doing Well, come here Lynn hang on there for a minute. I'm going to take a quick ad break and we'll be back with more as I was that Over time it's natural for your hearing not to be as clear as it once was The good news is advances and hearing aid technology may offer different solutions Sabrina Rob here from Donegal Hearing Clinic We provide peace of mind with hearing issues that affect people of all ages Contact us for a consultation at Donegal Hearing Clinic on 07491 88470 or visit DonegalHearingClinic.ie Life sounds brilliant with Donegal Hearing Clinic, Letter Kenny and Bunkrana You may have heard others making claims, but there's only one number one and it's official Kia is once again Donegal's best-selling brand in 2023 Calling today to iMotor's Letter Kenny or Malin or visit iMotor's.ie to find out why Kia is Donegal's best-selling brand Stay tuned for more of today's best-in-country with the country boy Tommy Rossney And you're very welcome back to the show this Wednesday evening My guest in the studio is none other than Dean Campbell Singer-songwriter from Lifford and Lynn, what about Gigan? Yeah, Gigan, I'm starting to do wee things now Still it's early stages for me, but Saturday next week, Saturday the 22nd I am in Lifford Old Courthouse The local church of Ireland are having a fundraiser to help repair the roof So there's going to be a bit of everything there next Saturday night Dan O'Kane, the postman in Riffau is going to be doing a comedy act Then we have Leslie Matthews, who's very very well known as well And he will be doing a lot of gospel music The Mood Swings are going to be singing there And a young girl is well called Jessica McKean So she's going to be playing as well So there's going to be a wee bit of everything going on next Saturday night So you can buy your tickets online at Lifford Old Courthouse Or you can ring up and buy them over the phone as well So that's going to be a really good night I'm really looking forward to that Then on Thursday the 8th of June In the Great Northern Hotel in Bundorn is the Celtic Country Music Awards So I'm going to be singing at that There's going to be a lot of big names singing at that So I am very very honoured and excited that they've asked me to sing at that And they actually contacted me today as well To say that I've been nominated for an award Which is amazing and I'm very excited about it So I'm nominated for the new and upcoming female artist So I'm really looking forward to that night That's going to be a lot of fun That'll be great, come here Who would have been influential on you? Who would you have looked up to as a singer and watch on role? Biggest influence was my father My father was a massive country fan Massive Johnny Cash fan And at the weekends we had a mobile import now And I've been going up there every weekend since I was a year old So on a Friday and Saturday night Well obviously when I was older But we would have went up to Andy's pub And there was always music there every weekend And of course my father was always called up for a song But God rest him But he never just went up for one He stayed up for about three or four And he loved his country music So he would have been my biggest influence But I was a huge Gareth Brooks fan when I was younger And a Celine Dion fan So that's where I got my love for country music And easy listening songs as well That had nice melodies to it So they would have been my three main ones But my father definitely had a big influence And then I do come from a very musical family On both sides And there's so many people in my house That have worked with big bands and stuff like that And play their own instruments and stuff But as far as I know I think I'm the only songwriter But they would be playing all the instruments So I'm going to have to catch up with them Maybe and learn something Maybe I'll take guitar lessons which is well I've been noticing the odds But I could play the guitar And I took lessons one time And my fingers were bleeding on the street Come here and tell you What genre would you put your music under You know you have done a few nice kind of country type songs And be kind of Americana or 40 I call it country and easy listening When I'm writing a song I do not know what I'm writing until it's finished It just comes to me And I don't know what genre it's going to Until it's finished So there's like kind of a The one that you're just after playing there Will you be that man That was kind of leaning towards the traditional Irish country Then my new song is definitely American country I have another few American country ones too That'll be coming out And then I have easy listening ones And I also write I have like a few kind of You probably call them pop songs And a rock song So I just I write what comes under my head But it mostly turns out to be country And do you record the mainly Terry and Ballet Buffet Absolutely Terry McGinty In Valley Music Studios Just outside Ballet Buffet He is incredible And he's a brilliant musician as well As a producer And he plays on all my songs now as well And he's taught me a lot And you know I'm constantly learning Because I really am still new to this game But you know I can hear things now I can see things better I can listen to stuff better I understand more about music Although I still have a lot to learn And he really gets me involved In the whole production side now too But you know he's great From the first day that I went into the studio Making me feel at ease You know because I was so nervous Going on and so nervous singing And you know but it's just brilliant And he'll tell you himself if you ever talking to him I just I call it my happy place Whatever's going on As soon as I get into his studio And go into the wee room And I just smile And I just can't stop smiling And it's just my happy place And I love it But I'm very very grateful to him He's been a great help to me And I'll be lost without him Well we're going to play Romance is Dead in a minute But I believe you have another song That's nearly finished Tell us about that one Before we talk about Romance is Dead Yeah Terry actually sent it to me Two days ago And it's called Stupid and Crazy And it's more leaning towards The Irish country style again I'm just waiting now to get An accordion put in it So I have to get an accordion player But I'm sure Terry will find one for me This one is It's the first time that I've written a song Where the melody wasn't really my own It was from What do you call them? Down the country? Walsh His first name will come to me in a second Oh Louis Walsh is it? No David not Louis Walsh That's the only Walsh I know But no it's a friend of mine But I'm terrible with names at the moment So he had a song out called I Heard It Rained And the melody was beautiful And one night I was actually On my wedding letter Kenny And I had his song on the car And had lyrics running through my head But of course my lyrics got tied with his melody So I rang him up and I said Hey look I've written this song But I want to use your melody I said can I do this and we'll put it down as a go right He says absolutely He says go for it Shirley Work away So the melody is his And the lyrics are mine So it's another week go right But I'm very excited about it too So I'll probably not be out for a couple of months Until I get it finished But I do like this one now I have to say Eamon Patrick Walsh Oh yes I heard of him And now before I let you go And we play romance is dead How did you condom but that's who I hope you're romance is dead Maybe Dan Watberg says But maybe yours isn't No that's all part Of the storyline for that album I was telling you about When I wrote that the first album And because I had never done song writing Writing before and I wasn't sure Really what I was doing But by the time I had written that album I had it written in such a way That every song was a chapter to the story But every song was a story in itself And I was a huge CSI fan So that's probably where it came from So the album itself It's a love story turned sour So that's romance is dead So there are track two or track three now On the album that hopefully will be Out later on this year And this is just the start of Where the love is kind of moving away And the arguments are starting before They split up and stuff like that Welcome Marilyn Before we play it If anybody is looking for your music Is it on CD or is it all stream? It's on everywhere that you would normally find it I have singles If people want a copy of one of the singles They just send me a message on Facebook Or email me It's on Spotify It's on iTunes It's on all the mainstream and platforms But I just get in contact with me Or they can email me as well It's Lynn Crawford Campbell at Hotmail.com But I'm there If anybody wants to contact me It's easy enough to find me Welcome Marilyn It's been great having you up in the studio We're going to play Romance is Dead